clones

‘High Heeler’ helps prevent klutzy moments http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9995864-1.html

High heels turn more comfy–in a snap http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9995767-1.html

Are your shoes ringing, or is it just your feet barking? http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9977342-1.html

Super-light Nike Flywire shoes to make Olympic debut http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9998061-1.html … Read more

The Nintendo press conference at E3 2008 just ended and we're left scratching our heads. While we were glad to see the announcement of titles like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party, hardcore gamers loyal to the Nintendo brand were completely left in the dust. There was no talk of any first-party Nintendo games beyond the Wii-branded Wii Sports Resort and Wii Music. There was absolutely no mention of new franchises like Kid Icarus or even anything from the Zelda or Mario camp. This has everyone in the office wondering, "Where are the … Read more

Though the first animal cloned successfully from an adult was done 12 years ago, the technology is still out of reach for non-scientists. That is, until now. News.com intern Holly Jackson had a chat with the CEO of BioArts, a biotech company auctioning off several opportunities to clone a pet dog. The first auction will start at $100,000, and the procedure isn't short on controversy.

Also in today's podcast: Yahoo tries out YMail.com, Jerry Yang takes a trip to Capitol Hill to quash any antitrust concerns surrounding its search ad partnership with Google, plus we … Read more

When Lou Hawthorne met Mira, the clone of his dog Missy, he couldn't have been happier. The puppy was just like Missy--and in some ways better because she mirrored Missy in her younger, more playful days.

So BioArts International, Hawthorne's biotech start-up that focuses on animal and human genomics, decided to spread the love.

Starting July 5, the highest bidders in five separate online auctions will win the opportunity to clone their own dogs.

Hawthorne, the company's CEO, said the event is the first step in making his Mill Valley, Calif.-based company's technology available to … Read more

There have been many Digg clones over the years. Some, including Mixx, have gained traction and even taken some disgruntled users away from Digg. In light of Digg's second town hall meeting taking place in a little over an hour, we got a pitch from Sift'd, a Digg clone whose owners claim to have addressed many of the issues brought up in the last town hall meeting.

While I think the site is bound to get a cease and desist from Digg for copying the popular social site's look and feel, it packs a serious punch when it comes to functionality.

One of the biggest differences is in the algorithm, which takes a story from each section and promotes it to the front page based on its popularity from the upcoming section. From that, the most popular of those stories makes it to the featured section--aka the front page of Sift'd. The algorithm also keeps too many stories from a single section from making it to the front page consecutively, choosing instead to promote something from another section, even if it's not as "hot." In practice this would keep several photo, video, and political stories from cluttering up the front page right next to one another. Unfortunately, at the moment it can't be tested since the site is devoid of users and submitted stories.

Another difference is the submission process. While similar to Digg, Sift'd's system allows for a much larger range of content to be added, including multiple images and videos (only from YouTube right now). Digg's system allows for a single thumbnail, taken at the time it scrapes whatever URL you provide. Sift'd does the same thing, as well as letting you upload your own image if it's not able to grab something when it goes through that page. I doubt anyone's going to want to attach six YouTube videos to a story submission, but Sift'd developers have approached it with an "if you build it, they'll come" mindset I find refreshing.

Also tweaked from Digg are some of the community interactions. You can still see what your Sift'd friends are up to, but there's none of the mini-social network that's been built into Digg with its shouts and profile pages. The commenting system lets you view comments on up to five levels of threading (meaning you can view a comment, plus four people who have responded in line to one another), as well as rate individual comments using a system similar to Yelp's, with varying attributes like funny, insightful, or "trolling." Users can also insert videos, images, and some basic HTML code to spice up what they write.

So is Sift'd "better" than Digg? No, but it's certainly an impressive effort. It's simple to submit stories and just as easy to vote for them. I also prefer the Sift'd comment system to Digg's current iteration, but even that is due to change any time now. It's also worth noting that it's already got an API with plans to extend it to user data--the kind of thing that can be used to create some of the neat visualizations seen on Digg. The one thing missing right now is users to make it all worthwhile.

I'm interested in seeing what comes of Digg's second town hall meeting Monday night (stay tuned for coverage), as well as some of the changes the company makes in its next major release. If anything, Sift'd proves how quickly some of these changes can be made on a smaller site that doesn't need to deal with some of Digg's growing pains of having to make sure everything will work for its 26 million users.

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Today we talk about the infamous $30 a month Sprint SERO plan, the 3G iPhone, and the new BlackBerry Bold. Also, we gladly watch as Speed Racer crashes at the box office and cry as Jimmy Fallon gets the late night love he doesn't deserve. Plus, we pimp Legends, Myths and Hieroglyphs, a brand new play by one of our favorite guests, Demetrius Wren.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

From the same country that spawned countless of iPhone clones comes a camera that looks too good to be true. And apparently it is.

Chinese company Chinavasion is promoting its prosumer lookalike point-and-shoot, the ZKX-DC5010. While it looks suspiciously like Sony's H7 or Nikon's upcoming P80, the specifications tell another story.

It comes with an outdated 5-megapixel sensor, tiny 2.4-inch LCD display, fixed lens (with no indication on focal length) and 4x digital zoom. All these telltale signs point to one thing: Unless you are really hard up on cash and still want to take pictures, stay … Read more

Psystar’s OpenMac Apple clone is close to a cease and desist order http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/14/ psystars-openmac-clone-is-close-to-a-cease-and-desist-order/ http://www.macrumors.com/2008/04/14/ openmac-promises-399-headless-mac-but-not-from-apple/

Vista’s UAC security … Read more

Stories about animals are a staple for the nightly news and frequently make their way to the front page of news sites such as Digg and CNN. Not to be left out, Purina, purveyors of food for dogs and cats has its own social news site devoted to all things domestic pet with Pet Charts, a self-proclaimed "definitive guide to the best pet stuff online." It features news stories, videos, and photos for dogs and cats.

Users can swap between either species or view both at once. Content is ranked numerically and can be voted on by clicking … Read more